Florence has been extremely wet since we arrived but I remember saying when we arrived here that there is no place that I would rather be than Italy when it is raining and I still think so after three days of torrential downpours. The rain turned out to be a convenient excuse to purchase two suede leather jackets as well, so that could have been it. Firenze has the cheapest leather goods of anywhere I have been to this point - belts, bags and great suede jackets. After we met a Turkish girl today I explained to her that I don't smoke or drink coffee, and the it dawned on me that leather jackets must be my addiction instead. But, for 400,000 lira, about $230, I couldn't resist and succumbed to my temptations. The first one I bought from a mexican kid named Raphael, and then next I bought from a funny man who described himself as "90% Florentine and 10% mafioso." As he placed the two jackets Alex and I purchased into plastic bags he kissed them for good luck. His name was Roby.

Florence is a nice city but at a different pace than Rome. It is full of foreign students studying art history, architecture and even jewelry making. Where Rome was dominated by tourists and Sorrento was full of English senior citizens, Florence at times speak more American English than Italian. There are probably more things directed at students, like nightlife establishments, and there are definitely more Internet access points here than in Rome. The place we went to today provided a convenient meeting place for young foreign girls as well, all there to check their email. There was a good 20 minute wait so as my brother wrote his emails I waited outside pretending to read Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" while admiring the view. There were about 10 girls waiting outside. One of them was a fantastic looking girl with dark features. She was speaking with another pretty girl in a tongue I didn't recognize.

I asked them if they spoke English, and when they replied in the affirmative, in which language they were speaking. The light haired girl told me that they were speaking Turkish. I was hoping for that answer since Alex and I had plans to go there after Greece. The dark one was studying architecture and was 19; the other was studying Italian but had finished school in Turkey under a pharmacy degree. She was 24 and I can't remember her name although she repeated in two times.

As we left the Internet access kiosk I asked the light girl, who had made more of an effort in our conversation, if she could email me with suggestions on places to go in Turkey. She said yes, and since she was leaving as well, she came with us to find a coffee shop, which was we discovered, is an impossibility on a late Sunday afternoon, at least in Florence. We talked for a bit, and waited out a rainstorm in a dingy pizzeria. When we said goodbye we kissed each other on the cheek twice. I don't know if Europeans feel even a twinge of physical sexuality when they kiss goodbye, but those kisses to me are like lingerie is to the naked female body in that they mean less than an embrace or a deep kiss or sex, but yet they impart such an incredible, strong flash of energy.

Addendum: Today we were fortunate to find on German television a documentary on orangutangs. There is perhaps nothing funnier than a television show with monkeys, and those German comic geniuses don't disappoint. We hope that Gerhardt Schroeder will use the 11% unemployed Germans to make more quality show like that one.